Category Archives: Press Release

Rick Schatz, MM breeder and owner of Flying Oaks Ranch, and SW Future Foal are working together to acquire four mares from Great Lakes Marchadors, MI. With the death of their Marchador stallion, Jay and Susan Bryan have decided to stop breeding and have offered us their mares. Summerwind Marchadors first imported two of these mares from Brazil in 2005 before they were sold to Michigan.

We are excited and happy to be adding new mares to our breeding program. Two of the mares will be offered for sale, we hope to new Marchador breeders to continue their bloodlines as well as enjoy the ride! However, if not sold, all the mares will eventually be housed in Oklahoma at Flying Oaks Ranch to live the good life on Rick’s lush pastures. Ator Fazenda Zouga is a good match for the mares, but Flying Oaks and SW also will be breeding the mares with imported Brazilian semen to produce embryos.

If you are interested in an SW Future Foal, we would transport the mare and keep the mare and foal with us until weaning time at no additional cost to you.

More news coming soon!

Let me introduce you to the mares! We are so honored to have them. Thank you Jay, Susan and Rick for helping this to come about.

Brisa Libertas – Koyote Libertas dam. Brasilia do Summerwind dam. Isabelle do Great Lakes dam. Need I say more? A beautiful mare, smaller at 14.2H, but with a marching gait as regular as a metronome. She is older, so we are hoping to be able to produce some embryos from her, and offer her a forever home for the rest of her days. Imported. ABCCMM registered

Atriz de Itajoana – A smaller mare at 14.2H but also powerfully built with a beautiful face (Abaiba). Atriz has had 2 foals here in the U.S. and we look forward to having her contribute more to the Marchador bloodlines here in the U.S. Sweet temperament and a great pick if looking for a foal for the whole family to enjoy. ABCCMM Registered

Amethyst do Summerwind – imported in-utero. The only daughter of a renowned Brazilian stallion named Irapuru de Joatinga. So, we are super excited to continue his genes. Amethyst will be offered for sale to a forever home. Priced to sell to a breeder, but if you are interested in her as a riding horse, we will sell her retaining breeding rights to produce some embryos or foals from her. ABCCMM registered

Isabelle do Great Lakes – Brisa Libertas x Oxum do Vale da Prata. With his early death, Oxum left only 2 breeding offspring in the US. He had a great gait and even better temperament. Isabelle will be started under saddle starting November 1 and ready to go in February 2014. You can buy her now for less and take over the training. Priced to sell to a breeder, but if you are interested in her as a riding horse, we will sell her retaining breeding rights to produce some embryos or foals from her. ABCCMM eligible.

The long-awaited foal of Azenha de Maripa x Ximoio de Maripa showed up early Sunday night, February 17th. This is Ximoio de Maripa’s first foal in the U.S., born using his imported frozen semen. Both Azenha and Ximoio were bred by Agro Maripa, Brazil.

We could not be happier with him. He’s friendly, confident and showing wonderful gait and temperament of the Mangalarga Marchador breed! Born chocolate (milk and dark), we think he will shed to black, but may eventually be grey like his sire.

He was code named Hermes, but after he was born, we decided to select a different name. When hawk feathers were found in his stall, we knew we had picked the right one!

CHIO 2012 – Marchador/Brazil Opening Ceremony An international competition week in Aachen Germany. The EAMM Sela de Ouro was also held there this week. During CHIO: 360,000 visitors during the week, 50,000 visitors in the jumping arena where the opening ceremony took place, 82 Million TV viewers from all over the world

Below is the letter John sent to the USMMA Board with his resignation. Susann Gabriel is now the new USMMA President.

Susann,

I wanted to give you a heads up on the announcement that I plan to send to Aline for the next newsletter. I suggest you or someone from the Board provide additional information on this policy change so the membership will get a perspective on the change.

There has been a change in the USMMA Organization. I have resigned as President of the USMMA, effective May 5, 2012. Susann Gabriel, an eight year USMMA Board Member, current Vice President, and passionate owner of Marchadors will become President until the next USMMA election in 2013.

The USMMA is a strong organization, with a solid balance sheet and outstanding reputation in the United States, Brazil, and Europe. The USMMA Registry includes nearly all the owners, breeders, and Marchadors in North America. We have a strong working relationship with Brazil, evidenced by the very successful 2012 Sela de Ouro and Clinic recently held in Ocala Florida.

The USMMA Board has recently approved a policy change that I cannot support and over my strong opposition. It was clear to me that I should step down. The direction approved is to move toward a requirement that US inspections for Mangalarga Marchadors be performed before a horse can be registered with the USMMA, based on the USMMA breed standard that is similar to the ABCCMM standards. Here are a few of the reasons behind my strong opposition:

– I do not believe, at this time, that we should be excluding Marchadors from the USMMA based on inspections. We had already enacted safety and quality measures with parental DNA and a verification of no genetic defects at birth. I believe the number one goal for the USMMA should be growth and diversity. I fear that this change will discourage some USMMA members from registering horses perhaps simply because of the cost of inspections or fear that their horses won’t be accepted and we will lose Marchadors and perhaps those members from our base.

– The Marchador is a BRAZILIAN breed. I believe our current process of encouraging American breeders to join the ABCCMM and voluntarily seek ABCCMM inspections keeps that connection strong. I believe, for breeders especially, that inspections provided valuable information but should not be mandatory or a requirement to register Marchadors with the USMMA.

– In my mind, the quality of the MM breed in the U.S. is a three legged stool. One of those aspects is genetics. However, limiting the gene pool also creates an adverse affect – poorer quality in the breed. The other two legs of the stool are presentation and training. If a very well-bred quality Marchador is not presented well or trained correctly, then it will look like bad breeding. We all imported or bought the highest quality Marchadors to begin breeding programs. It is the other two legs of the stool that I personally feel need the most attention. The USMMA could do more with education, more with show kits, more with clinics and bringing up gait trainers than will ever be accomplished with an inspection program.

Lynn and I have enjoyed our time actively involved in the USMMA Board of Directors but it is time for new leadership. We are confidant that the USMMA will continue to be a successful organization. We will continue to support the Mangalarga Marchador as members of the USMMA and as members of the Brazilian Association, the ABCCMM. We will also maintain dual registration of our Marchadors including inspections performed by ABCCMM authorized inspectors. We will now focus our time on our personal goals of improving the quality and diversity of the Marchador breed via imported frozen semen and frozen embryos from top Brazilian breeders and developing the M Foundation.

We will try to be available to other members to help in any way we can since we share a common passion, the Mangalarga Marchador.

John J. Kelley

Many people will still have questions after reading this letter, so here is some more from the SW Future Foal perspective and our thinking.

Inspection & Registration

We believe strongly in the Brazilian inspection process and the quality of the MM breed. There is a process to become members of the ABCCMM and to obtain ABCCMM inspections. Every SW Future Foal is from ABCCMM inspected parents and is provisionally registered with the ABCCMM. They are also registered with the USMMA, so if the new owner does not want to inspect, the USMMA paper becomes primary.

We do not believe the USMMA should link registration with inspections nor change its registration policy to require mandatory US inspections. Today about 10% of the current Marchador horse population whose owners are “unknown” to the USMMA. We would like all Marchador horses to be registered and not become lost. We think mandatory inspections could make more animals (and their offspring) unregistered (for a variety of reasons, could be cost, could be quality, could be indifference – the owner doesn’t care about inspecting) and there is a real downside to that, in our opinion.

When we originally founded the USMMA, the registration process was designed similarly to the Andalusian design where all Andalusians (and half-Andalusians, for that matter) are registered with the IALHA. Then if the owner or breeder desires, they can complete the paperwork and process to get their Andalusian registered and approved in the Spanish association – Pure Raca Espanol or PRE. Fresians and Icelandics both have inspections where quality is assessed, but it is not tied to registration of the horses.

We also do not believe that any U.S. vet has the experience and knowledge of the MM breed to become an inspector for conformation, gait and temperament or for judging a Marchador. We put our trust in ABCCMM inspectors. It is the ABCCMM Horseshoe M brand that is the international mark of the Marchador horse and of its quality. Substituting a USMMA brand is not the same in our mind.

As mentioned in the letter, John was the only dissenting vote on this issue. As such, it was clear that he could no longer continue as President. If John had remained as President, both he and I would have had to work on communication and implementation. Clearly, because we are so against this policy, we did not want to work to make it a reality.

ABCCMM, Brazil and the USMMA

The Marchador is a Brazilian breed. The ABCCMM (the Marchador association in Brasil) will always have more knowledge, more horses, more money and resources than the USMMA. We have encouraged Marchador owners and breeders to become members of the ABCCMM and to inspect and register their Marchadors with them, as we do. We would love to see that continue. (The ABCCMM is creating a new registration book to solve some of the paperwork problems of the past.) We would like to see everyone that owns a Marchador travel to Brasil to feel the passion, ride their horses and relive the history at the birthplace of the breed.

Partnering with the ABCCMM also helps us with the other aspects of marketing and promoting the breed:

the rich history and passionate stories of the Marchador breed,

the breed’s value in Brasil,

their marketing and international press about the Marchador,

training for the marching gait that is the hallmark of the breed &

visits back and forth, for clinics, shows and other.

A New Beginning

This is just our opinion and obviously others, just as passionate about the MM breed felt differently. In the end, it does not matter what we think. It only matters that the USMMA continue to grow and prosper and that the Mangalarga Marchador get more recognition and attention here.

It is a good thing to refresh the association; to get new members involved and working. John and I have been around, since the beginning of the association in 2004 when we formed it with other founding members and great friends, Cristiana Guerra, MM Horse Farms and Tresa Smith, Montana Marchadors. Now eight years later, with a strong membership and bank account, it is a good time for us to step aside.

Remember that our work was voluntary. We did it because of our passion for the breed. Now it is time for others who are just as passionate (and hopefully younger) to take on the work we need for the next decade.

SW Future foal expands east to North Carolina! WIth the addition of Elba Cruzalta, Jeff and Michelle Bosley now own 2 foundation MM broodmares. Between the two mares, they cover the spectrum of the Marchador breed characteristics. Reserving a SW Future Foal from one of these mares could be the horse of your dreams — and now, closer than ever if you live on the east coast.

Jeff and Michelle and their 2 children, Luke and Rachel keep their horses at home with them and are ideally located in North Carolina’s horse country with access to miles of trails.

Bacara do Summerwind with Michelle in Lumber Bridge, NC

About the mares:

Elba Cruzalta – imported grey Mangalarga Marchador mare with impeccable Abaiba/Bela Cruz bloodlines. Nicknamed Bella, she is a marcha picada mare with a champagne gait – so smooth, you won’t spill a drop. She passes along her beautiful eyes, look and smooth gait to her foals. She is 14.3, but because her conformation is so perfect, she looks much larger, like a Lusitano mare. Double registered with the USMMA and with the ABCCMM, her foals are also eligible for dual registration.

Bacara do Summerwind – Bred by Summerwind here in the U.S., Bacara is a mix of Herdade and J.B. bloodlines. Both Herdade and J.B. are known for their marching gait in Brasil. Unlike many other MM bloodlines, bay and black are prevalent. A classic marcha batida gait, Bacara is so athletic and powerful, she is a candidate for almost any riding discipline. Yet unbred, we hope that Bacara will pass along her great Iberian hair, her confident personality and athleticism to her foals.

Meet Jeff and Michelle:

Jeff Bosley in AZ riding Koyote Libertas, a MM gelding

Jeff Bosley – I have spent 20 years in the USAF; 7 years enlisted and 13 years as a commissioned Officer (Major). I have a BAS and Masters in Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS).

I grew up on a farm and remember how as a child I was given the opportunity to take care of problem horses for several months at a time on two separate occasions. Most of what I have learned came through research and a love of horses. More recently, I have been fortunate to have been mentored by John and Lynn Kelley and still have much to learn.

I am first and foremost passionate about the Mangalarga Marchador. When I first came across the breed 10 years ago I was just looking for a good endurance horse. After becoming involved with the MM first through research and later after owning my first mare, I have become a huge fan of their unique blend of characteristics. I have realized you don’t have to sacrifice a gentle disposition or a willing temperament for spirit, energy, and athleticism. I knew my goal was to become a breeder by the time I retired from the USAF. I enjoy working with them because of their willing spirit, intelligence, and gentle disposition.

My goal is to be an ambassador of the Marchador breed. I hope to accomplish this by first promoting them in every venue possible, either personally as a facilitator or secondly, through a strategic responsible breeding program.

Michelle Bosley – Jeff and I bought our first Mangalarga Marchador in 2007. Bacara do Summerwind was only eighteen months when she came with us to Lumber Bridge, NC. At that time, I really didn’t know that much about Mangalarga Marchadors. My Mom owned and bred Peruvian Paso’s while I attended college, and I would ride them when I went home to visit. So, the Marchador was new to me.

After marrying Jeff and seeing his passion for horses, I began to enjoy them more also. I’ve always loved being around horses, but never really worked with them much before I met Jeff. Now that we have had Bacara for four years, I have been able to see what a difference a horse can make in one’s life. My horsemanship has improved dramatically based on the relationship I share with Bacara. We recently purchased two more Marchadors and are excited that they will be here this April.

We are just beginning to breed the Mangalarga Marchador, and our dream is to continue bringing this great breed to the United States.

Tigre do Summerwind! He's moving too! He'll be Jeff's riding horse when he is old enough.